


Forever embedded

by sarah_mcginger



Category: NCIS
Genre: M/M, McNozzo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-02-23 19:53:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2553527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarah_mcginger/pseuds/sarah_mcginger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Gibbs didn't realise McGee was hurt after the explosion, what if McGee didn't even realise it himself. Eventual McNozzo</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Realisations

**Author's Note:**

> I will try to update this as quickly as I can but life is crazy so it may take a while, sorry!

McGee scrubbed his hand across his face trying to rid some of the fogginess that seemed to have settled over his brain, he looked around the once pristine bullpen and sighed at the destruction that surrounded him. He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious but that was the last of his worries right now he pulled himself up using his upturned desk standing still as he swayed for a moment and was about to sit back down when he heard footsteps looking up he sighed in relief when he saw Gibbs coming through the doorway to the stairwell “Thank god.” He muttered to himself.

  
“Boss?” He asked wanting to make sure he wasn’t dead and imagining everything.

  
“You okay?” Gibbs asked quickly resting a hand on his shoulder visibly checking him for any serious injuries.

  
McGee managed a small nod “Huh yeah I think so.” He replied honestly too numb to feel even if he was in pain “you?” He asked hesitantly nodding in understanding when the other man just looked around the room.

  
‘It’s so hot.’ McGee thought for a moment but went back to searching the area for his memory stick he needed to find it everything they had on Dearing was saved to it. His head had started to pound not long after he started to look and there was a strange sensation in his side that he couldn’t quite work out.

  
His search was momentarily halted by Ziva and Tony being released from the lift, he smiled at them both pleased they were all okay before he went back to searching.  
After a few more moments it seemed to be getting warmer, he could feel the sweat running down the back of his neck and stood for a moment looking around to see the others trying to salvage things from their areas. As he watched the scene his vision started to swim and he felt suddenly light headed.

  
“You okay Probie?” Tony asked from beside him making Tim jump as he wasn’t aware the other man had moved, Ziva and Gibbs looked up at the comment.

  
Tim managed a small nod and swallowed thickly “It’s just really hot in here.” He mumbled using his hand to wipe away some of the sweat from the back of his head.

  
“Woah Tim stop.” Tony instructed grabbing Tim’s wrist turning his hand over to reveal a large smear of blood he looked up concerned before he moved so he could see the back of Tim’s head “Okay Tim we are going to sit down for a moment.” He told him gently a tone of worry barely detectable in his voice as he shot Gibbs a worried look.

  
Tim was too hot and tired to be bothered by Tony’s strange behaviour and let the older man lead him to a chair and make him sit, the moment he bent however he cried out in pain and almost passed out.

  
Tony and Gibbs quickly steadied him looking at each other in concern before they helped him so he was lying on the floor where Tony pulled away his jacket revealing a large chunk of glass stuck in his friends side “Jesus.” He gasped seeing just how much blood was surrounding the object “Boss the back of his head is a mess too.” He whispered concerned.

  
Gibbs very carefully lifted Tim’s head so he could see “Ziva go get EMT’S tell them to bring a stretcher.” He barked before he moved back to Tim’s face “Hey Tim come on.” He instructed tapping his cheek.

  
Tim groaned and opened his eyes looking up for a moment before he tried to get up “need to find the stick.” He muttered panting with the struggle to try and get back up “So hot.” He complained.

  
“Woah.” Tony and Gibbs both called at the same time when he started to move “Tim you’re not moving stay there.” Gibbs ordered.

  
“No need to find the stick.” Tim replied pushing himself up and crawling across the floor trying to push bits of rubble away searching for his memory stick until finally he found it and immediately collapsed into a heap hissing when the glass embedded itself further.

  
Tony and Gibbs rushed to his side “Tim, stop.” Gibbs ordered gently helping to roll him onto his back.

  
Tim took Gibbs hand and pressed the memory stick into it “We got him.” He whispered hissing loudly “Give that to Abby.” He finally panted just as Ziva, the EMTS and Vance ran in.

  
“Gibbs I thought all of your team had been accounted for what is going on?” Vance demanded as the paramedics quickly started to work on Tim.

  
“They were but McGee said he was okay, I don’t think he even realised he was hurt he was too busy trying to find this.” Gibbs explained showing Vance the memory stick.

  
“Get that to Miss Scuito immediately.” Vance demanded “He was doing something when I left I think that had something to do with it, and whatever he was doing he was willing to risk his life for it.”

  
“Sir we need to get him to the hospital can you help us get him down the stairs?” One of the paramedics asked interrupting the pair.

  
“Gibbs we carry him down, Dinozzo and David get the memory stick to Miss Scuito and help her with whatever you find.” Vance instructed moving to help the paramedics get McGee onto the stretcher.

  
Ziva and Tony looked up at Gibbs who nodded in response and handed over the memory stick “do not let that out of your site.” He warned before he moved off to help Vance.

  
“He’s lost a lot of blood.” One of the paramedics explained looking at his partner.

  
The other moved to check his responses “Mr McGee open your eyes.” She urged gently “Mr McGee can you hear me?” She waited a moment before she looked at the others “We need to move now his pulse is slowing.” She instructed as they loaded him onto the stretcher and moved to get him back down to an ambulance.

  
It was slow and difficult work getting down the stairs as they tried to avoid rubble and potentially weak areas, as soon as they stepped outside word had obviously spread and people stood around watching Tim being lifted into an ambulance and taken away with Gibbs sat in the back with him.


	2. Hero?

Tony paced the destroyed bullpen staring at the memory stick in his hand, Abbie had downloaded everything and explained that McGee had found Dearing and had saved all of the evidence they had on him. This did nothing however to comfort Tony he was angry actually he was furious McGee had ignored an order to evacuate and instead almost got himself killed. Hell for all Tony knew he could be dying right now. He clenched his fist around the tiny device almost ready to smash the thing for making Tim get hurt.

Gibbs watched through the window as the doctor and nurses worked on McGee, he was unconscious when they finally reached the hospital and apparently his vitals weren’t looking good. The older man sighed he thought they had been lucky and that his team were all ok but he had been wrong and he should have realised it but for once his famous gut gave him no hint, he turned scanning the room for any other agents he knew but most were people he would only recognise as he walked past them on his way to the bullpen.

His attention was brought back to the room as he heard raised voices and machines beeping he saw the nurses running around picking up different pieces of equipment before they started to wheel the bed out of the room “What’s going on?” Gibbs demanded to know following the bed until they ran through a set of doors and one of the nurses stopped him from following.

“Mr Gibbs please come with me I’ll explain.” She promised gently guiding him back into Tims now empty room. She pointed to a chair waiting until he sat down. Gibbs would normally have stayed stood but he could tell this women wasn’t going to tell him anything until he sat down so he did looking at her expectantly.

“They are taking Mr McGee to surgery, they believe the glass may have moved after it was originally lodged into his side and it has therefore punctured his liver.” She made sure the older man had taken everything in before she explained further “They are going to try and stop any internal bleeding, repair the liver and remove the glass. Then assuming everything goes well they are taking him for a CT scan to try and asses the level of injury to his head and whether it is merely superficial.”

Gibbs nodded “He is going to make a full recovery isn’t he?” He asked not doubting his agents ability to pull through this. “We really can’t say right now there are too many unknowns.” She admitted “He won’t be out of surgery for a while yet is there anyone I can ring to come stay with you?” She asked.

Gibbs stood “I need to get back and help the others, can you call as soon as he is getting out of surgery or if anything changes?” He asked knowing that sitting in that room would not help anything right now the best thing he could do would be to find Dearing.

Tony looked up as Vance walked towards him “Dinozzo have you been checked out?” The other man asked obviously concerned that others were hiding injuries.

Tony nodded “Yes sir, as soon as we were released from the elevator, I am fine just a few bruises.”

Vance shook his head “why the hell did you decide to evacuate the building using the elevator Dinozzo?”

“We didn’t think?” Tony offered not really sure himself why they had decided the elevator was a clever idea. Vance sighed “You are both damn lucky but when all of this mess has died down I am sending both yourself and David on a fire safety course.”

Tony just nodded too worried about Tim to really care “Why didn’t he get out?” He asked quietly “I mean even you told him too and he ignored you he never ignores his superiors, why did he have to this time?”

Vance gently lay a hand on Tony’s shoulder “go to the hospital I can tell that your head is not here and until we manage to co-ordinate with the army we aren’t going anywhere. There is also no chance I am letting you anywhere near Dearing you aren’t in the right frame of mind and I will not have two agents in the hospital.”

Tony nodded gratefully he looked down at the memory stick “Here this has everything on it about Dearing, all of the evidence and something Tim was working on.” He handed it over “I don’t trust myself with it right now.” He admitted quietly.

Vance took it “I will ensure it is kept safe, let agent Mcgee know he is going to be thanked personally by the president for his efforts to hunt Dearing down and let him know that I am going to remind him how to follow orders.” He said the last part with a sad smile.

It didn’t take Tony by surprise that Mcgee was going to be hailed as hero but he knew his friend would claim that he was only doing his job. He gave Vance his thanks before he walked out of the building trying to ignore the ruins around him.

Gibbs was just about to leave the hospital when he saw Dinozzo walking in through the doors “Dinozzo what are you doing here?” He asked cutting him off.

Tony almost jumped a mile when Gibbs appeared in front of him “Erm boss I’m here to see Ti…McGee.” He stuttered slight worried about the fact that Gibbs was leaving the hospital “He’s okay right?”

Gibbs pulled Tony into the hospital not saying a word until he had them both in McGee’s still empty room “He’s in surgery Tony his liver was damaged and there was internal bleeding.”

Tony felt himself pale “but he’s going to be okay right?”

Gibbs shook his head “they won’t tell me for sure said there are too many unknown factors.” He sighed “Tony he does not have permission to be anything but okay, none of you do.” He added trying to help the young man.

“He should have told us he was hurt!” Tony snapped “instead he tried to be a hero!”

Gibbs put a hand on Tony’s shoulder “he didn’t know he was hurt.” He shrugged “How could he tell us if he didn’t know, if anything this is my fault for not ordering him to get checked over when I found him.”

Tony dropped his face into his hands “we failed him and if he dies I don’t know what I will do.”


	3. Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooo sorry this took so long to update life is just crazy at the moment! I promise to try and get more chapters updated soon.

It had been a couple of hours since Tim had been taken to surgery Tony and Gibbs were still sat in his room, Tony too worried to leave and Gibbs to concerned about Tony’s emotional wellbeing to leave him alone. 

They both looked up when the nurse from earlier walked into the room “Mr Gibbs can we talk?” She asked gently, unsure who Tony was. 

“This is Tony, he is also on Tim’s medical proxy form.” Gibbs supplied standing “Please go on how is he?” 

The nurse nodded “He’s out of surgery there was more internal damage than we originally expected they had to remove a large part of his liver and part of his spleen as well as give him a blood transfusion.” 

Tony rubbed his face trying to calm down “but he’s going to be ok right?” 

The nurse gave him a small sympathetic smile “we still don’t know for sure, he’s currently having a CT scan but he will probably be back in here in a couple of minutes, they were just finishing up when I left. His doctor will explain everything more clearly once he’s been settled in.” She left just as the door opened and a team of nurses and a doctor pushed the bed back into the room with Tim lying extremely still on it. 

Tony quickly moved to Tim’s side taking his hand “Hey Tim it’s me don’t scare me like this.” He whispered. 

Gibbs watched him confused he had never seen Tony react like this before especially with McGee, leaving Tony alone for a moment he followed the doctor outside “How is he Doc?” 

“He has a long way to go but I think he should recover.” The doctor began with a small smile before his expression turned serious “We need to monitor him very closely the next few days, he has some swelling on the brain that could be serious and the operation has left him more immune to post op infections than we would like.” 

Gibbs nodded making a mental note of everything he said “I believe one of us will be here with him at all times so we can help monitor him.” 

The doctor nodded “normally I would make you stick to visiting hours but after everything you have all been through I can be lenient but I will ask that if I think you are overwhelming him I will ask you to leave.”

Gibbs nodded shaking the doctor’s hand “Thank you, I appreciate it.” 

The doctor nodded shaking his hand in return before he walked away to help others who had been caught in the blast.

Gibbs stood outside the room for a couple of minutes watching Tony, he was even confused when he noticed that the younger man was completely ignoring one of the younger nurses and was now perched on the side of Tim’s bed talking to the sleeping man. 

He waited until the nurses left before he went back inside “the doctor said Tim should be okay.” He told Tony who slid off the bed and nodded. 

“The nurses said he could wake up at any point.” He told Gibbs moving the chair closer to the bed. 

Gibbs nodded staying silent for a moment before he moved to sit opposite Tony “Are you okay?” He asked his senior agent. 

“I’m fine I got checked out as soon as I got out of the elevator.” Tony shrugged. 

“That’s not what I meant.” Gibbs replied “I’ve never seen you act like this before Tony.” 

“Act like what? I’m fine Boss just leave it.” Tony snapped feeling cornered. 

“Hey don’t snap at me.” Gibbs replied “Today has been hell we all know that but I do not need you freaking out on me.” 

“Sorry Boss.” Tony whispered rubbing a hand across his face he was about to explain when Tim’s eyes started to flutter. 

“Take it easy Tim.” Gibbs said softly standing and gently resting a hand on his young agents shoulder. 

It took a while between Tim’s initial signs that he was coming round to him actually opening his eyes and keeping them open “T’ny?” He croaked confused his mouth dry from the surgery. 

Tony grabbed the ice chips and gently spooned some into his mouth for him which made Tim smile in thanks. 

“What happened?” He asked after he had sucked on the ice chips for a couple of moments. 

Tony looked at Gibbs who thought for a moment “What do you remember?” He asked not wanting to freak McGee out if he didn’t remember the explosion.

Tim thought for a moment “I remember the evacuation order then trying to save everything we had on Dearing as well as some extra information I had found to my stick.” He pulled a face then “I was getting up to leave but then everything’s just blank I don’t know what happened between then and waking up here.” He explained trying to stop a yawn. 

“That’s okay Tim.” Tony said gently resting a hand on Tim’s. 

Tim frowned “Did you just squeeze my hand?” He asked. 

Tony quickly removed his hand thinking he had freaked Tim out “Yeah sorry I wont do it again.” He promised. 

Tim ignored him staring down at his hand “Why didn’t I feel it?” He asked after a moment. 

Gibbs looked concerned but quickly hid it and placed his hand on Tim’s right side squeezing softly “Can you feel this?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Tim whispered starting to be concerned.

Gibbs nodded back to Tony who squeezed Tim’s right hand “What about that?” 

“No? Gibbs what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I feel that….oh god I can’t move my arm.” He started to panic. 

“Hey look at me.” Gibbs ordered trying to calm him down before he popped his stitches, he waited until Tim was looking at him before he spoke again “We will figure this out, you are going to be fine.” 

Whilst Gibbs was calming Tim down Tony snuck out and grabbed a nurse explaining what had happened, trying to stop his own panic from bubbling over. 

He watched silently as the nurse ran off to find the doctor and they both ran back to Tim’s room where both Gibbs and Tony were pushed out to wait in the hallway.


	4. Late night

Tony sighed as he watched Tim sleep he had tried to go home and do the same but rather than sleep he had found himself researching traumatic brain injuries and their side effects, he hadn’t liked what he had read and trying to sleep after that seemed like an impossible task. So instead of lying in his bed starring up at the celling he got up had a shower, changed and headed to the hospital. 

There were bruises across Tim’s face that Tony hadn’t noticed earlier and it made him wonder just what had happened to the other man the moment that bomb had gone off, had he tried to protect himself, had it all happened too quickly for him to do anything or had he accepted his fact the moment he ignored the directors orders to evacuate. Rubbing a hand across his own tired face he leant back in his chair and closed his eyes trying to get some sleep even if the hospital chair wasn’t the most comfortable place. 

He watched as the bomb exploded and Tim was thrown back against his own desk, he watched as the windows exploded and showered him with broken glass and he watched as Tim didn’t get up again but Tony couldn’t move it was like he was glued to the spot watching the scene repeat itself over and over again. 

“Tony?” He jumped blinking his eyes open as he looked around realising he was still in Tim’s hospital room and what he had watched had been a dream, it made him shudder to think about how close to the truth the dream had almost been. It took him a moment to realise that someone was speaking to him, looking up at the bed he smiled softly “Hey, you should be sleeping.” 

Tim gave him a small smile “Yeah well you should be home, are you okay?” He asked softly. 

“I’m fine Mcgoo, but I’m sure I should be asking you that question, how are you feeling?” He replied leaning forward to take the younger man’s hand.

“Honestly?” Tim asked pausing for a moment “I’m scared I still can’t move my arm, the doctors said that if the swelling doesn’t go down by itself I will have to have brain surgery.   
Do you know how long that will take to recover from and that’s if nothing goes wrong.” He closed his eyes trying not to get worked up knowing the painkillers weren’t making his emotions any easier to deal with. 

Tony stood and perched on the edge of the bed “Hey look at me.” He whispered gently lifting Tim’s chin so he was looking him in the eye “I will not let anything happen to you, if you need surgery then I will help you throughout every step of your recovery you hear me? You are not alone right now.” He promised. 

A single tear slipped down Tim’s cheek as he nodded carefully “Thank you.” He whispered bringing his good hand up to rest on Tony’s wrist. 

Tony smiled softly and used his thumb to wipe away the tear “You have nothing to thank me for, I’m just pleased your hear talking to me right now. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you.” He admitted meeting Tim’s eyes realising just how true that statement was. What would he have done? 

He didn’t know but the mere idea of his life without Tim Mcgee sent shivers down his spine, he continued to watch the younger man’s face and before he even knew what he was doing he leant forward his lips ever so gently coming to rest on Tim’s. 

For a moment everything seemed to stop including both men who froze at the action before Tim’s good hand came up to hold the back of Tony’s head and he was kissing him back. 

Tony felt like he should be panicking but instead he felt himself deepening the kiss feeling as though he could relax for the first time in days, that was before Tim shifted slightly and broke the kiss with a hiss as the pain in his stomach made itself known. 

Tony quickly pulled back “You okay?” He asked quickly looking down to make sure he hadn’t ripped his stitches. 

“Tony I’m fine.” Tim smiled “I just moved a little too quickly.” He admitted hesitating slightly before he took Tony’s hand and squeezed it “that was unexpected.” He admitted.

Tony blushed “I know I’m sorry, I’ll go and we can forget it happened.” 

“Wait Tony who says I want to forget about it? Unless that’s what you want of course?” He was worried now. 

“No of course not.” Tony denied quickly “It’s just I didn’t plan on doing that.” He admitted with a nervous chuckle. 

Tim smiled “It’s okay Tony, let’s talk about it tomorrow.” He decided laying his head back against the pillow as his pain pills started to wear off and his head started to throb. 

The older man nodded and carefully pulled the covers up for him “get some sleep Mc….Tim I’ll be here when you wake up.” He promised. 

A small squeeze from his good hand was the only response Tony got before Tim dropped off completely leaving him sat there trying to work out what had just happened and what that meant for the pair in the future.


End file.
